


The Only Family We've Got

by LizardWithAComputer



Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: Child Abuse, Fluff and Angst, Gen, I'm Bad At Tagging, Sorry Not Sorry, Super angsty, backstory?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 05:34:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30134736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizardWithAComputer/pseuds/LizardWithAComputer
Summary: Zack ran into a table and a vase fell, shattering on the floor.The two kids stared at it in horror.“Zack! Hide! Quick!” a nine year old Ivy loudly whispered at her brother as they heard the heavy approaching footsteps.“B-but-” the seven year old stammered“Now!” Ivy said, fear in her eyes
Relationships: Ivy & Zack (Carmen Sandiego), Original Female Character/Original Non Binary Character, ivy & original characters, zack & original characters
Comments: 3
Kudos: 22





	The Only Family We've Got

Zack ran into a table and a vase fell, shattering on the floor.

The two kids stared at it in horror.

“Zack! Hide! Quick!” a nine year old Ivy loudly whispered at her brother as they heard the heavy approaching footsteps. 

“B-but-” the seven year old stammered

“Now!” Ivy said, fear in her eyes as her brother scrambles behind the couch. 

“Which one you little shits broke it?!” a loud, angry voice snapped as their mother entered the room. Ivy stood with her hands behind her back in front of the vase, trying to maintain a blank expression, although she was shaking in fear. 

“I...I did.” her voice shook as she spoke, “but i promise i'll help pay for it-”

A slap rang out through the room as the girl stumbled, but did not fall, holding her cheek. 

“That was an antique, you fuckup!” their mother screamed as she grabbed her arm and practically threw the girl towards the wall, where she hit her head and crumpled to the floor. The angry woman started to stalk towards the unconcious girl on the floor before a scrawny seven year old boy barreled out from behind the couch, standing in front of his sister. He threw his arms out, attempting to shield her, eyes filled with determination and fear.

“Don't hurt my sister!” Zack shouted uselessly as a fist met his cheek, knocking him down. Thats gonna be a bruise. Thankfully the woman grumbled, turned, and left the room before she could do anymore damage. Zack sobbed and looked over at his sister who was still laying on the floor. 

“Ivy, wake up, she’s gone.” Zack said, shaking his sister’s shoulder. “Ivy?”. The girl still didnt move. He sat for a moment and thought, before going to the kitchen, grabbing an orange and peeling it. He trotted back to his sister and sat down.

“Ivy wake up, do you want an orange?” Zack asked, smiling hopefully, waiting. Oranges are her favorite fruit, surely she’d wake up for one. He waited for five minutes before his seven year old brain had another idea. He went to her room and grabbed her favorite stuffed animal, a little doberman named Brownie. She hates it when he takes this one. He pads out to the living room with the toy and stands in front of her.

“Hey Ivy! Look who i have! It's Brownie! Come get her!” Zack yelled, getting ready for her to wake up and chase him for the toy, but she still lay against the wall. He put Brownie with his sister and tried to come up with another idea. 

“Ivy wake up we gotta go to school!” He tried to no avail. He sighed and sat in front of his sister watching her breathe. He has one last idea

“Ivy mom’s coming back!” 

Ivy’s eyes shot open and she launched upward with a startled gasp, “where?!” she said looking around wildly, while trying to shield her brother at the same time. Zack suddenly felt guilty for scaring her like this.

“Nowhere...i just needed you to wake up. N-nothing was working…” Zack whimpered, guilty.

“It's...it's okay bro, just...don't scare me like that. You know what she does…” Ivy sighed. “Want to go get some ice cream?” she added with a smile. Zack’s face lit up as he and Ivy went to the front door, grabbing a couple dollars from their mother’s coat pocket. They walked down to their favorite ice cream place, often where they escaped to when their mom was drinking. Everyone there knows them and it feels like a home. All the employees are around fifteen to twenty five years old, so it's like having a bunch of secret big siblings. They walk up the sidewalk and push open the door.

“Hey if it isn't Zack n’ Ivy! The usual?” Liz shouts from the counter before registering the large bruise on the side of Zack’s head, “oh what did they do now” she growled, voice full of sadness and anger. 

Seeing the sibling’s faces, she cut herself short. “You know what? Never mind that. What would you kids like?” she smiled as Alex came in from the back room carrying a refill for a flavor of ice cream. They smiled as the siblings came to the counter. 

“I want ummm cookie dough?” Ivy said before nudging Zack to get him to decide, “I want chocolate please!” Zack smiled as Ivy reached to put the money on the counter.

“Nuh-uh, these are on me, kiddo. You deserve em’.” Liz said, putting money from her own pocket into the register. She signed the flavors to Alex and they started to scoop their cones. Once Alex was done, they handed the kids their cones, signing a simple “thank you” with a smile. Ivy nodded and shakily signed back a “you welcome”. 

Alex smiled and gave Ivy an approving nod before returning to the back room. Ivy went and joined Zack at the table with her ice cream. They sat in silence and ate their ice cream. Once they finished, Zack looked up at Ivy.

“Why did you lie to mom?” Zack asked, barely a whisper. “I was the one who broke the vase…”

“I didn't want her to hurt you.” Ivy replied, rubbing her head to try and relieve the headache she got from earlier. It did nothing. “Oh…” Zack replied, “but you got hurt.”

“I know, but I'm your big sister, I'm supposed to protect you.” Ivy looked up at him with a sad smile. “But i want to protect you too! You fell down and I couldn't get you to wake up! That was scary!” Zack sobbed, a few tears slipping from his eyes. Liz looked sadly over the counter at the two kids, then at the time.

“We can protect each other! It doesn't have to go one way” ivy smiled as Zack’s eyes lit up a bit. Liz walked over to their table and pulled up a chair

“After my shift, do ya want to see how cars work?” She asked, knowing both kids were fascinated by them. She smiled as they eagerly nodded, not knowing she was really just trying to delay them from going back to the hellhole that is their house. Heck, if she wasn’t only seventeen she’d try to adopt them. Her and Alex would take great care of them. 

The clock hits 8:00 pm and Liz leads the kids out to the back, where her and Alex’s car is. She popped open the hood and showed them the engine, the pistons, the whole fiasco, and Ivy looked like she was just introduced to a new universe. She kept asking more and more questions like, “where does the oil go after you pour it in?” or “how does it make the wheels go when it's all the way up here?”. It was clear that Zack was a little less interested in how the car worked and more interested in making go. 

“Someday when you’re old enough kid, i'll teach ya’ to drive.” Liz told Zack as he beamed up at her, “i can't do it now cuz’ you’re not tall enough to see the road.”

“Hey, I'm tall! I wanna learn!” the small boy shouted, laughing. Alex came out of the building, holding their backpack. They looked at Liz and the siblings and smiled, happy to see them happy. Liz looked at them and signed “just show them car” Alex nodded and signed back “there new go-kart place up street we should take them” liz nodded and turned to the siblings.

“Listen guys, tomorrow after this place closes, come meet us here and we’ll take you go-karting!” Liz says excitedly, “it's a good way to start for a kid like you” she smiled as they looked at each other happily. “Okay!” they both said as they turned and started running home excitedly.

The couple watched them leave, “poor kids” Alex signed, Liz just nodded.

\-------------------

Zack is tired of this. He’s tired of getting bruises every day. He’s tired of Ivy getting bruises. He’s tired of hearing mom yell at dad every day. He’s tired of hearing her threaten him every day, saying if he fights back, she will accuse him of assault and get him thrown in prison. He’s tired of things being thrown, empty bottles, terrible food-all of it. He knows that Ivy is too, because she told him. Mom  _ broke her rib _ the other day! They need to leave. They're old enough to survive alone now, well not completely alone. Heck, Ivy will be 18 next year and he’s 15 right now. Not to mention they’ll have dad with them. They gotta leave.

He goes to Ivy’s room and knocks on the door, she tells him to come in. 

“We should leave soon, i'm tired of all this.” Zack said, sitting on the floor. 

“You’re right, we have to get out of here. Lets pack a few thing and tell dad, okay we can-” 

Then the shouting began. 

They could hear both their parents shouting about...them. Dad was yelling about mom breaking Ivy’s rib and mom was threatening him. They heard things being thrown. Hard. Suddenly they heard their dad scream, then silence. They looked at each other, bewildered. They snuck out of Ivy’s room to the living room to see what happened and stopped in their tracks.

There was blood. There was mom. And there was dad lying on the floor.

“DAD!” Ivy shouted as mom turned around, holding a bloody knife with a crazed look in her eyes. “Ivy we gotta go!” Zack said, pulling Ivy’s arm and running out of the house. Their mom charged out of the door with the knife, chasing them. They need to go where they know they are safe. After running and turning down different corners and alleys, they came to the ice cream shop. They burst through the doors and Liz jumped. 

“Woah! What happened? Are you okay?!” she asked, panicked. “Our mom is crazy! She killed dad!” Zack cried, tears in his eyes. They weren’t close with their dad because he was trying to work three jobs at once to pay for the house and their mother’s booze, but he was still in their corner when he was there. He was trapped like they were...and they were too slow to save him. 

Liz ushered them behind the counter and into the back room to hide, consoling them as she did so. Ivy and Zack huddled under a table in the back, not daring to say a word. Alex spotted them and asked “what happen”. Ivy shakily signed back “mom kill dad she after us” Alex was shocked and angry, “anything happens, go out back take car then get out o-f here” They signed clearly and slowly so they can be sure that the kids understood, they turned and headed to the main room, looking back and signing “everything will turn alright, even i-f not now” they handed them the keys and moved out to the counter with Liz, signing to her to call nine-one-one. 

Suddenly a crazed, definitely drunk, looking woman burst through the door, holding a knife.

“Where are they?!” she roared, “where are the little shits?! I know they’re hiding here!”

“Ma’am we don't know who you’re talking about! Leave or we’re gonna call the police!” Liz shouted, holding her ground. The woman pointed the knife at the twenty two year old and repeated what she said, “I know they’re here!”

Liz knew damn well that she’s not going to let this crazed woman anywhere near Ivy and Zack, even if a knife is being waved in her face. Liz grabbed the tip jar and slammed it into the woman’s face, chattering the jar and throwing broken glass and coins throughout the room. While the woman was distracted, Alex charged forward, tackling her and attempting to pin her. However the woman thrusted the blade at the employee, nicking their shoulder as they tried to dodge. They cried out and fell back, holding their shoulders as Liz ran forward to pin or disarm the woman, but she punched the smaller woman in the face and then stabbed the knife into her back.

Liz screamed and fell to the ground as the women stabbed her again, blood spewing out onto the ground. Alex cried out and punched the woman in the face, blind with rage at her for stabbing their lover. The knife slashed through the air, catching Alex’s throat, causing them to fall to the ground, crying.

Ivy and Zack shook, frozen in their hiding spot, listening to all of this unfold, as sirens slowly grew louder. They could hear screams and crashing from the main shop area. So they ran to the back door and ran out, getting in. Zack started the car and they were off. The drive was silent, aside from their sons. They knew this was their fault, and they didn't know what to do. Liz and Alex were dead because of them. They drove for hours. Finally, they parked at a crappy motel and sat in the car. 

“Should...should we go to the police?” Zack sobbed

“They’ll just put us in the foster system...i...we can't. We could...end up with someone like...like…” Ivy sobbed

“You’re right. I know i can trust you to have my back, and you can trust me to have yours.” Zack said, looking through the windshield at the sunrise, “we can survive”

“We’ll be alright.” Ivy said as the sun slowly rose over the tops of the trees, covering them with golden light.

  
  
  


\-------------------

Liz opened her eyes. She was...in a hospital? Why was she here again?

Suddenly it all came flooding back, Ivy, Zack, Alex, blood, a knife, and a crazed woman.

Is Alex okay? Are they alive? What about Zack and Ivy?

The door to her room opened and a nurse walked in, “oh you’re awake!”

“Where's Alex? Are they okay?” Liz asked, panicked

“Don't worry, your lover is alive and in stable condition. The knife missed the major artery in their neck, so they managed to not bleed out. Can i get you anything?” the nurse said walking over to the bed it was like a weight was lifted off her chest, but not all the way.

“Are..are Zack and Ivy okay?” Liz asked

“The kids from the security footage? The police are looking for them. We know they’re alive, the police arrested their mother.” the nurse said calmly, obviously trying to make sure the injured women understood.

They're alive.

They're  _ alive _ .

Liz let her head fall back onto her pillow and closed her eyes.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> the reason Alex's signing dialogue has funky grammar is because thats how actual ASL grammar is. there aren't signs for "of" or "if" so if you want to sign them you have to finger spell it


End file.
